Modeling of pomegranate arils drying was carried out under thin layer nearinfrared (NIR)-vacuum conditions. Drying of the samples was implemented at the absolute pressures of 2, 20, 40 and 60 kPa and drying temperatures of 60, 70, 80 and 90C. Drying behavior of pomegranate arils as well as the effect of drying conditions on moisture loss, effective diffusion, activation energy, shrinkage, color and energy consumption, dried in NIR-vacuum dryer are discussed in this study. Results showed that the Aghbashlo model had supremacy in prediction of pomegranate arils drying behavior. Effective moisture diffusivity of the samples was estimated in the ranges of 3.07 × 10−10 to 1.14 × 10−9 m2/s. Activation energy were computed between 30.80 and 37.48 kJ/mol. Minimum shrinkage (71.46%) and color difference (16.7%) were achieved at temperature of 60C and absolute pressure of 2 kPa. Energy consumption was estimated in the ranges of 0.206 to 2.072 kWh.
